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'I feel dirty:' EA workers trapped in a maelstrom of cynicism and doubt after Saudi buyout

Aug 19, 2026 | 5 min read

Multiple current EA employees share their views on how the publisher's seismic $55 billion take-private will impact the people behind its popular franchises.

Last year, FIFA and Battlefield publisher Electronic Arts (EA) sought to reassure workers that its recently-completed buyout at the hands of an investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia's sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) and involving Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner wouldn't materially change the culture at the company.

Those assurances were offered around two years after Saudi Arabia crown prince and PIF chairman Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News he had no qualms with the perception that his investment fund was being used to further the geopolitical ambitions of the Gulf kingdom. When pressed on whether PIF had funnelled cash in high profile sports such as golf (via the launch of the LIV Golf) and football (via the takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United) with that goal in mind, bin Salman provided a candid response.

"If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1 percent, then we'll continue doing sportswashing," he said "I don't care [about the term]. I have 1 percent growth in GDP from sport and I am aiming for another 1.5 percent."

Since then, PIF has scaled down its golf investments but remains in control of Newcastle United. The Saudi state has also expanded into the video game industry in historic fashion, taking EA private in a deal worth $55 billion while using PIF and other investment vehicles such as MISK and Savvy Games Group to purchase stakes in (or obtain full ownership of) major game companies including SNK, Scopely, Capcom, and Take-Two Interactive.

Perhaps, then, we need to ask a different question. Have we entered an era of pixelwashing that will see Saudi leaders attempt to leverage the artform to push their political agenda and distract from the widespread allegations of human rights abuses and oppression, including bin Salman's own purported involvement in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi?

EA has already said "no," but some employees aren't convinced.

A number of current EA workers based in the United States and Canada, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said they are deeply concerned that Saudi Arabia views the U.S. publisher as a means to launder its culture through western media. "Between Football Club, Madden, and Battlefield, the studio has a huge global reach. We've been assured in town hall meetings that this purchase won't negatively impact our company culture, but that's working under the assumption that EA's culture is morally good and well-intentioned in the first place," said one source.

Another person described the buyout as a way for Saudi Arabia to distract from its "regressive" human rights record by "co-opting an established and comparatively progressive company culture."

Everyone we spoke with said EA leadership is adamant the deal will not affect how the company operates creatively, but some employees are struggling to find the truth in those words. One source said many workers have been left in a "state of cynicism" after the deal completed—even within some of the publisher's more stable studios, such as The Sims developer Maxis.

Publicly, Maxis has stated that its commitment to values such as "inclusivity, choice, creativity, community, and play" has not wavered and will persist through 2026 and beyond. That statement was published January this year, after the deal was announced.

Even so, the belief among some workers is that layoffs are now inevitable and that certain projects may be torched or overlooked to appease the company's new Saudi overseers. There is no expectation that EA leadership will be transparent about why any of those decisions are being made, especially now they are not obligated to explain themselves to shareholders.

"The [crown] prince is not going to get on to a town hall and say 'we are no longer doing these things' but instead projects just won't get signed because they don't align explicitly with what the Saudi government wants or implicitly because [EA will think] 'oh, we're going to try and cater these things [to our owners] because if we pitch something else the government may not like or approve of it,'" said one source, who claimed the best case scenario is that EA is simply left to its own devices.

Yet, even in that context, those we spoke to explained it is still hard to stomach being owned by a regime accused of oppressing its own people, often with lethal force.

"It's certainly hard to feel good about being bought out by a regime that's very much at odds with progressive society, so it is surely detrimental to anyone who finds this buyout morally odious. It's not a good feeling," one source explained.

Another person said they "feel dirty" knowing they now work under ownership that views their queer friends and family as "inhuman."

"If EA had a culture that had any semblance of a moral backbone, it wouldn’t get into bed with a prince who’s disgusted by many of its current employees' sexualities and ethnicities," they added. "Then you have Jared Kushner in this disgusting business stew, which just adds insult to injury. I feel gross just thinking about it, but there’s nowhere else to go. I’d love to leave, but the jobs aren’t there, and I have bills to pay."

Given the potential shockwaves resulting from the buyout, you might imagine EA would have made addressing employee concerns a top priority. Not least, because, it will need those same workers to continue making video games to meet the demands of its new owners and satisfy its financial obligations (more on that shortly). That hasn't been the case, according to those who spoke out. One source said management has offered "brief" Q&A sessions during internal town halls in a bid to settle fears, but claimed their responses to questions were largely unsatisfactory.

"There have been a lot of concerns about what happens post-buyout, and responses are mostly just vague reassurances. It hasn't done enough to quell a lot of the fears over job security or creative influences with Saudi owners. To mangle a metaphor, much like internal comms from execs, what they tell us about 'our future' is the same word salad just with different dressing. It's the appearance of giving an answer without actually answering," said one person.

Multiple sources told us that, during a town hall meeting in the fall of 2025 (shortly after the take-private was tabled), many employees began asking questions about how the deal might impact EA's internal culture and job security. Once that meeting ended, two sources said the directors of EA's lifestyle pillar forgot their microphones were still hot—meaning that when one muttered "little babies" at the end of the call, it was heard by everybody.

Although our sources held different opinions as to whether that remark was a potshot at concerned workers or simply an offhand comment that has perhaps been misinterpreted, it's evident there is a clear divide between the executive class and rank-and-file staffers at EA. Two sources also recalled how, during another town hall, one exec made a quip about needing to purchase another horse for their child because it is currently the year of the horse (according to the Chinese lunar calendar). One person felt the comment was made in jest, but said it still underlined the massive divide between the lives of executives and their employees.

"Some of us have trouble making ends meet. Some of us lost our jobs with no prospect of finding a new one. I bet most of us don't even have one pony," one person said. Commenting on that incident, specially, another source said the fact an executive felt comfortable making that joke shows "these people are so out of touch with the reality of the common employee. It hurts the brain."

Although those who spoke out were united in their disdain for the deal, they explained employees who own vested shares in EA stand to earn a pretty penny as a result of the buyout. That, said one source, is perhaps easing (or distracting from) some immediate concerns. "The stock price has been locked at a fairly juicy peak, and everyone who has vested shares [is] looking at a windfall of cash. This is great for those people, but many employees are 'Temporary Fulltime,' and these employees never received any stock. So while it’s fantastic many are getting a huge payout, it isn’t for everyone," they explained.

"And on top of that, the future bonus structure is still very murky. So no one is celebrating this, but they are asking 'how much do I get?' and I can’t blame them. At this point, all you can do is get that bag today, because you’ll likely be unemployed tomorrow."

Another person said EA has been "dangling that stock price payout" over employees to convince them the deal is in their best interests, but while some might receive a cash windfall, the fact the deal has completed as such a high valuation—off the back of a $20 billion debt financing package from JP Morgan Chase—has many convinced layoffs and possibly even divestments are now inevitable.

EA has refuted that notion. In an employee FAQ published in October 2025, the company said it is in "a strong financial position" and claimed taking on debt will not impact its ability to invest and grow. "Through strong cash generation, we will continue pursuing organic and inorganic growth opportunities as a private company, even with the new debt," it wrote. "The Consortium also expects to invest in our business, enabling us to accelerate innovation and unlock new growth opportunities."

EA also stressed there will be no "immediate" layoffs as a result of the buyout. Again, that position was communicated in the FAQ shared last year, but it remains to be seen how far the publisher is willing to stretch the definition of that rather precarious adjective. Our sources are expecting to find out sooner rather than later.

"Everybody just assumes they are under the threat of layoffs at all times—given how things have been across the industry at large but also internally at EA. There is also some amount of cynicism in that we expect they won't be enacted as mass layoffs anymore but rather as waves of small layoffs in order to bypass WARN notices," said one person.

Under the U.S. federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, employers in the country must provide advanced—publicly available—written notice before making job cuts that involve a certain number or percentage of workers. The fear now, as noted above, is that EA will subject some teams to death by a thousand cuts in order to avoid public disclosures. Everyone who spoke out is worried that layoffs are a forgone conclusion within a debt-laden EA. They feel it is just a matter of who will be allowed to keep their jobs, which franchises will be deemed essential, and which studios might secure a tenuous lifeline in the form of a divestment.

"It's hard to see how teams or games that underperform wouldn't be dissolved or sold off," said one person. "The history of leveraged buyouts shows that this is the playbook, no matter what our executives insist will be different. I have no internal secret information—we don't need any to see how this thing plays out—but the only unknown (and fear) is how soon and how deep things need to get cut back to pay off this debt. Any year that EA's cash flow goes down, rather than up, will be bad for employees."

The mood is downbeat, but one source claimed there was a period when leadership within EA appeared to care about employees. Those halcyon days are now consigned to memory, it seems. "For what it's worth, there was a time where execs engaged more and provided more earnest answers about the company, and it genuinely felt like they cared about us," they explained. "It was years ago though. Now it's mostly just tired corporate bullshit."

EA declined to comment when approached by Game Developer.

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton.

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Source: Chris Kerr · https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-feel-dirty-ea-workers-trapped-in-a-maelstrom-of-after-following-saudi-buyout